Wednesday, December 2, 2009

My Hair Journey in Korea





From when 1st decided to come to Korea until now a lot of women ask me "What do you do with your hair?" or "Who does your hair?". I know its hard to believe but believe it Koreans do my hair. They have put twist in my hair, and they have washed and pressed it out for me.

I must admit my 1st trip to get my hair braided turned out to be terrible, I went to an African braiding shop and it was as my students say "it was NOT fun". I am not even sure where I should begin, I arrived at 7am to the shop. When I got there they were really rushing while doing my hair. They had a lot of appointments that day and they had a tight schedule to keep but that was not the issue. Issue number 1. when I go to get my hair braided I DO NOT want to work! This is what I am paying YOU for, don't ask me to separate the hair because 9 times out of 10 I will be doing it wrong. Furthermore how am I to enjoy a good book if you have my hands occupied??? Issue number 2. I am not African nor did I grow up in a French speaking country, so STOP TALKING TO ME IN FRENCH! I had to tell her 3 times I speak English! and Issue number 3. Why is my ponytail so scraggly? Why do I have a million braids but only have 3 strands of hair in my ponytail?

The 2nd time I got my hair braided I went to the Koreans and they did a GREAT job. I was so shocked, those who know me know I have really THICK hair and these Koreans got with it. The only complaint I had was I didn't think they gave me a good deep condition. Other than that they had me looking and feeling good feeling great AND I had a full ponytail :D.

Recently I decided to give my hair a break from braids as to insure the survival of my edges, because being with out edges is NOT cool. I mean who wants to be a bald headed scalawag not I said the cat lol! My hair is currently natural so I was a little nervous to say the least about what the final project was going to look like. I was told about a shop called Ms. Kims and that she does a great job. I made an appointment and once again the Koreans have surprised me. They really care about healthy hair and that's important to me too. They gave me a moisturizing treatment and pressed me out and I was bouncing and flowing when I left there. Like a Pantene Pro V commercial!

Still Seoul Searching...

6 comments:

  1. wow, that's amazing. i'm teaching english in japan and i'm coming to seoul in the beginning of may and, among other things, i'll be getting my hair done. i was a bit nervous because all the shops i seem to have found are korean owned and operated and it'll be the first time someone outside of the community does my hair, haha. but after reading this, i don't feel too afraid. thanks!

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  2. Yeah, I was super nervous too when I got to Korea. Ms. Kim's is near the Osan Air force base, if you are talking the bus or train you want to go to Songtan bus terminal or Line 1 (blue line). I tried a few places and she was by far the best! It feels like you are at a shop at home and someone really cares about your hair being HEALTHY, which is really hard in Korea because Koreans are about the paper. I hope this helps Good Luck!

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  3. ooh! thanks again! i booked an appointment at a place in itaewon but i'm second guessing it (they don't even have the hair for me to buy, i have to get it somewhere else). so i kind of want to find a new place. i'll try ms. kim's! do you know the phone number or a web address or anything? also, do they sell the hair there?

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  4. Umm... you're beautiful...? *lol- i was at Osan in '05 and some of the ladies there then were on the same mission. This is a neat blog! *Kudos*

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  5. Very interesting post! I live in Japan and I came across your blog in search of an African Hair Braider by the name of Ms. Pam in Osan. Have you heard of her? If so, do you know how I can get in contact with her? I know you're in Seoul and not Osan, but I figured it was worth asking. I visited Seoul during my trip to Korea as well and LOVED it!

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